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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24073330">Three Little Pigs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWeatherOutside/pseuds/TheWeatherOutside'>TheWeatherOutside</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fairy Tale AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Sequel, So this is basically an Into The Woods AU at this point, Strangers to Friends, This entire story takes place in the forest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:00:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,391</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24073330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWeatherOutside/pseuds/TheWeatherOutside</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Six characters, three houses, one story.</p><p>Or</p><p>How everybody finally meets.</p><p>(Once Upon a Time sequel)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fairy Tale AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1717582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Straw House</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Time for part two of the fairy tale au!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”</em><br/>
<em>“No, no, by the hair on my chinny chin chin.”</em><br/>
<em>“Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ryan traipsed though the tall grass as he exited the forest and came out into a field.</p><p>It had been a long while of him wandering through the forest, trying to find something more interesting than the trees around him. So, it was a welcomed sight when he finally found the small field that sat on the edge of the forest.</p><p>The field appeared to be attached to a barn as a part of some farm. From the way the barn looked to be falling apart and the way the grass of the field was overgrown, the farm appeared to have been abandoned a long time ago.</p><p>Which would make it an excellent place to stay for the night.</p><p>Ryan made his way across the field and cast a glance up at the sky now that there weren’t trees blocking his view. It was filled with dark clouds, which were blocking out the sun he hadn’t seen in what felt like forever. The sun was setting anyways, and it would be night soon.</p><p>When Ryan reached the barn, he could see patches where the wood had rotted away and fallen apart, creating large holes in the walls and roof. It would make it cold, but Ryan supposed it was better than nothing.</p><p>He approached the door, and found that it was open slightly. He didn’t think much of it, as the wind had probably just blown it open, and he pushed it open the rest of the way.</p><p>It was a tad warmer inside the barn than it was outside, and Ryan closed the door behind him all the way to keep at least some of the warmth in there.</p><p>The barn was just as empty as he had imagined, except there were several piles of straw still stacked up in the corner. It was pretty small, and was missing a few rafters, but it should hold up for the night.</p><p>There was a sound that came from the back of the barn that had Ryan spinning around, a hand edging towards the knife on his belt. He figured that it could just be a rat, but then a blur of motion had him thinking otherwise.</p><p>He barely had time to see the man running at him before he was being knocked off his feet.</p><p>The man fell on top of Ryan, and Ryan was stunned for only a moment before he pushed the man off. Ryan rolled over so he was the one on top, and he pinned the other man down with his knife at his throat.</p><p>The man looked shocked at how easily Ryan had taken him down, but quickly that look was gone and one of anger replaced it.</p><p>“Who are you? What are you doing here?” The man asked as he tried to struggle out of Ryan’s grip. There was a chance he could’ve sounded intimidating if his voice didn’t shake so much.</p><p>“I could ask you the same question,” Ryan said back.</p><p>“I-I live here,” the man hesitated. His eyes kept darting about.</p><p>Ryan almost laughed at the obvious lie.</p><p>“No, you don’t. This place clearly hasn’t been touched for years.”</p><p>The man’s eyes widened as he realised he’d been caught out. He seemed skittish, and Ryan recognised that look.</p><p>“You’re hiding from something,” Ryan guessed. “What is it?”</p><p>By the look the man gave him, Ryan knew he had guessed correctly. However, the man still tried to deny it.</p><p>“What? I’m not hiding from anything.”</p><p>“Oh, really?” Ryan sat up slightly, but he still kept his knife close to the man’s throat. “Then, why else are you in an abandoned barn in the middle of the forest?”</p><p>The man realised he had been caught out, and he slumped slightly. Ryan almost felt bad at him for trying so terribly.</p><p>“Tell you what. If you leave now, I won’t try to kill you.” Ryan stood up to allow the man to get up, but he still kept his knife close in case the man tried anything.</p><p>The other man stood up immediately, but to Ryan’s surprise, he didn’t run for the door the second he was up. Instead, he began to brush the dirt off his knees, like that was the biggest issue here.</p><p>Now that they were both standing, Ryan got a good look at the other man. The clothes he wore were made of a fine material and looked pretty expensive. Not the type of clothes someone would go out in to explore the woods.</p><p>“That offer is diminishing,” Ryan prompted in an attempt to get this man to leave.</p><p>However, the man made no attempt to do so. He still stood there, and raised his head defiantly.</p><p>“I’m not going anywhere. You’re not going to kill me.” His eyes met Ryan’s, and Ryan was taken aback by how attractive this man was.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Ryan brushed the shock off, he had to stay focused.</p><p>“You’re not going to kill me,” he repeated. “Because otherwise you would have done it already.”</p><p>Ryan felt his mouth fall open at the sudden confidence this man was displaying. It was a stark change from the skittish attitude he was showing before. But then Ryan snapped his mouth shut and he glared at the man.</p><p>“I was just trying to be nice. I thought you wouldn’t be so ready to die, but if you’re just-”</p><p>“That’s exactly my point. You’re <em>nice</em>.”</p><p>Ryan gripped his knife in frustration and he took a step towards the other man. The man’s gaze flicked briefly to the knife, before his eyes were back on Ryan’s.</p><p>“Do you know who I am?” Ryan asked slowly.</p><p>The man looked at him for a long moment before he gave him a small shake of the head. He wasn’t surprised at the answer. No one stuck around Ryan for this long if they knew who he was.</p><p>“I’m Ryan Haywood.”</p><p>He paused to give the other man a moment to process that. He fully expected the other man to turn and flee to save himself from meeting the same end as many before him.</p><p>What Ryan didn’t expect was the grin that appeared on the other man’s face.</p><p>“Now it all makes sense!” He practically squealed with that statement.</p><p>Ryan frowned in confusion. That was definitely not a reaction he got before.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I read about you, when you got locked away. I know you murdered a lot of people, but I actually looked into your victims, out of curiosity. Turns out, you’re not as scary as everyone thinks. Because, arguably, everybody you killed deserved it. They were all murders themselves, but they only hurt innocent people, unlike you. So, yeah, you’re nice.”</p><p>Ryan’s confused frown had slowly turned into one of anger as the man spoke. It wasn’t because what this man said wasn’t true, because it was, but really he was angry at this man for knowing it all.</p><p>He held his knife up and took another step closer to the other man, who now didn’t seem fazed by Ryan’s advances, much to Ryan’s disappointment.</p><p>“I would leave now if I were you.”</p><p>The man locked eyes with Ryan and took his own step forward, not even blinking at the knife Ryan held so close to him.</p><p>“I’m not scared of you. I’ve dealt with worse than you,” he said defiantly.</p><p>“You should be.” Ryan tried to keep the intimidation in his voice, but he knew it was basically wasted at this point.</p><p>That was shown to be true as a second later, the man just spun around and wandered over to one of the piles of straw. He fell down onto it and tipped his head back, his eyes closed like he was just going to take a nap.</p><p>Ryan just stood there, stunned. This situation took a different turn than he was expecting. No one had left him so at a loss for words, and now he had no idea what to do.</p><p>He was prepared to just leave, seeing as this other man wasn’t going to do so, but suddenly there was a roar of thunder above them and rain started to come through the holes in the roof.</p><p>If Ryan left now, he was just going to get soaked through. Which meant that his best chance was just to suck this up and wait until the storm passed.</p><p>Ryan sat down against the wall of the barn, the opposite side to where the man was, in one of the only spots that wasn’t getting wet from the rain. The other man opened his eyes and, after seeing that Ryan was staying, he sent Ryan a small smile.</p><p>Ryan didn’t return it, and was content to just sit in silence and listen to the patter of rain.</p><p>“Wait, if you were locked up, then how are you here?” The man asked curiously several minutes later as he sat up in the straw.</p><p>“I escaped,” Ryan told him matter-of-factly. He was expecting a further discussion, but the man just hummed in response.</p><p>“I never thought you deserved being locked away, anyway.” The man leant back in the straw and began to fiddle with some pieces of it. “I’m Gavin, by the way.”</p><p>Ryan looked over to him in surprise. He hadn’t expected him to offer it, but it felt nice to finally put a name to him.</p><p>That was the end of their conversation and the only sounds they could hear were of the storm outside as the day rolled into the night.</p><p>However, there was suddenly a loud creaking sound coming from above Ryan. Ryan looked up to find out what it was, just in time to see the roof above him collapse under the weight of the rain.</p><p>Pieces of the roof came crashing to the ground, all narrowly missing Ryan. As soon as the roof above his head was gone, the rain was coming through the hole and was soaking Ryan.</p><p>Ryan stood up quickly and hurried to find a new dry spot, but the only spot that was away from the rain was next to Gavin.</p><p>Gavin realised this too, and he grinned up at Ryan as he scooted over on the straw. Ryan sighed, knowing he had no other choice if he wanted to stay dry, and sat down next to Gavin.</p><p>So, maybe the straw was surprisingly comfortable to sit on, and maybe it was quite warm when he pulled some over himself like a blanket, but he wasn’t going to let Gavin know how much he was enjoying sitting next to him.</p><p>Ryan’s plan was to leave as soon as the storm let up, but the barn quickly got dark and the rain still hadn’t stopped. The long trek through the forest was finally hitting him, and sitting in the comfortable pile of straw made his eyes begin to droop. He tried to stay awake as long as he could, but it wasn’t long before he fell asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Stick House</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The following morning, Ryan woke to the sun shining on his face and a weight on his shoulder. He blinked against the bright light that shone through the holes in the barn’s walls, and turned to find that Gavin was sleeping with his head on Ryan’s shoulder.</p><p>Ryan didn’t remember falling asleep like that, but despite the fact that he was willing to kill the man just the night before, Ryan didn’t think he had the heart to wake him.</p><p>Fortunately, Ryan didn’t have to wait long before Gavin woke up. Gavin rubbed his eyes and stretched as he sat up, not even paying any attention to the fact that he was sleeping on Ryan. Ryan decided to not bring it up, and instead stood up and stretched himself.</p><p>The bright sun outside indicted that the storm had passed. Ryan opened the barn doors and stepped outside, and he found the sky this morning was clear.</p><p>The sun felt nice on his face and he closed his eyes. This was the first time that he really felt like he was free, and he stood there for a long moment to bask it all in.</p><p>However, the moment was broken by the sound of footsteps behind him. Ryan turned to find Gavin standing in the doorway of the barn, a bag on his back and looking up at Ryan expectantly.</p><p>“What?” Ryan asked him, not understanding why Gavin was staring up at him.</p><p>“Oh, uh, I was just wondering where you were headed,” Gavin replied, seemingly nervous.</p><p>“Why?” Ryan couldn’t help but feel somewhat guarded. He had only just met Gavin, why did he want to know where Ryan was going.</p><p>“I just, um, thought that maybe we could go together?” His eyes were hopeful as he stared up at Ryan.</p><p>“No.” Ryan turned to start walking away, but Gavin followed anyway.</p><p>“Oh, but, Ryan!” Ryan did not like how much he loved how his name sounded when Gavin used it. “You just broke out of prison, or something. Where could you possibly be going that I can’t come with you?”</p><p>The answer to that was nowhere, truthfully. Ryan didn’t even know why he was so quick to say no to Gavin in the first place. Maybe he was just so used to being on his own.</p><p>“Fine,” he relented. He told himself that it was just because this way, he could keep an eye on Gavin as he was the only one who knew Ryan had escaped and could go running to the authorities. It wasn’t because he enjoyed the smile Gavin gave him as he happily stepped into a walk next to him.</p><p> </p><p>The forest continued on the other side of the field, and that was where the two of them headed.</p><p>Ryan’s stomach rumbled loudly a short way into their journey, and he failed to remember the last time he ate. He had no food on him, and he had low doubt that Gavin was the same, as he also appeared hungry and had yet to pull anything from his pack.</p><p>As if something in the universe wanted things to go right for once, it was only about ten minutes later that they came across an apple tree.</p><p>Ryan came to a stop next to the tree and took in the fruit. There were several apples that had fallen to the floor and were rotting away, but there were also a number of them still on the branches, big and ripe and perfect for picking.</p><p>Ryan picked off the closest one he could reach and inspected it closer. It looked just right to eat, and so he turned and offered it to Gavin.</p><p>Surprisingly, Gavin paled at the fruit and took a step back.</p><p>“What is it?” Ryan looked at the apple again to see if he had missed something.</p><p>“I’m just…not a fan of apples,” he said quietly and looked away.</p><p>Ryan frowned, who didn’t like apples?</p><p>“You need to eat something.”</p><p>“I know. Maybe I’ll find something else.” Gavin turned away and began to look at the bushes.</p><p>Ryan highly doubted he’d find anything so quick, but to his surprise, Gavin suddenly hurried over to a bush and squealed in glee.</p><p>“Look, Ryan! Berries!” Gavin pointed to the bush and began picking berries off the branches. “I’ll just eat these instead.”</p><p>“Sure. Unless they’re poisonous.”</p><p>“What?” Gavin stopped still in his movements and almost dropped the berries he was holding as he faced Ryan.</p><p>“Yeah, but only some of them are.” Ryan laughed at Gavin’s reaction as he peered over at the berry bush. “I’m pretty sure those ones are fine, though.”</p><p>“<em>Pretty</em> sure?”</p><p>“Well, it’s either those or the apples.” Ryan held up the apple he was still holding as an offering.</p><p>Gavin slowly looked at the apple and back at the berries, before he made up his mind. He hesitantly popped a berry in his mouth and began to chew it. Several moments passed and nothing bad seemed to happen, so Gavin relaxed and ate a few more, pleased, before he went back to pick the rest from the bush.</p><p>Ryan just chuckled and turned back to the apple tree. He picked some more apples that looked ripe enough, and he held them in his arms.</p><p>Despite Gavin’s hesitance towards the apples, he let Ryan put them in his pack along with the berries after he’d eaten a large number of them. Ryan held onto one of the apples, and ate it as they continued on their journey.</p><p> </p><p>They didn’t talk much throughout the day, but the silence was surprisingly comfortable. Ryan suspected it was because it had been a long while since he had been in the presence of someone else for this long.</p><p>The night was coming quickly as it was nearing winter, and Ryan knew they would need to find a good place to stop for the night soon.</p><p>Ryan was keeping his eyes peeled for something that would provide them shelter or warmth for the night, so they wouldn’t freeze to death.</p><p>He almost missed the wooden hut buried in the thick trees, if he hadn’t of been keeping a keen eye on their surroundings.</p><p>He pointed it out to Gavin and together they made their way through the trees towards it.</p><p>It had likely been built in the forest long ago, as trees and plants were growing around it like a cocoon. It was almost completely hidden from view.</p><p>Ryan stepped out into the small clearing the hut was in the middle of. He was prepared to walk right up to the hut, but the sight that greeted him had him stopping in his tracks and he put his arm out to stop Gavin moving any closer too.</p><p>There was a man standing in front of the hut. He seemed to not have heard their presence, as his back was turned and he was peering into one of the broken windows.</p><p>Ryan turned to Gavin and raised his finger to his lips in an indication to keep quiet. He slowly walked over to the man as he took the knife out of its sheath. He still had not heard Ryan approaching and was not aware of his presence until Ryan was grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling him towards Ryan’s chest. Ryan grabbed one of the man’s arms and put his knife to his throat.</p><p>“Who are you?” Ryan growled in the man’s ear, and he was distinctly reminded of a very similar situation he had been in just the day before with Gavin.</p><p>“G-Geoff Ramsey,” the man stammered. “I’m sorry if this is your place, I was just looking for a place to stay tonight.”</p><p>Ryan faltered slightly. He had expected a bit more defiance from the man, not for him to give in so easily.</p><p>“Ryan, don’t hurt the poor guy!” Gavin came up behind Ryan.</p><p>Ryan did let the man go, for he really did not want to unnecessarily kill a man if he wasn’t even going to fight him.</p><p>The man, Geoff, stumbled out of his grip and turned around to face them.</p><p>The clothes he wore were as expensive looking as Gavin’s were, although these were much fancier, like he had just stepped out of a ball.</p><p>Well, he would look like that, if there weren’t holes in his clothes and dirt streaked across his pants and shoes.</p><p>“I really am sorry,” Geoff said, and made to move past them and back to the trees. “I can just go-”</p><p>“No, it’s fine.” Ryan stepped away and put his knife away, although unsure as to why he was letting his guard down so easily. “This isn’t even our house.”</p><p>“Oh, uh, okay then.” Geoff stammered, seeming unsure as to what to do now. “Wait, you’re not from the palace are you?”</p><p>He appeared pale at the question. What had he done to be worried about something like <em>that</em>? Not that Ryan could really judge.</p><p>“No, we’re not,” Gavin answered for Ryan. “We’re just looking for some place to sleep too. Oh, I know! You can just stay with us!”</p><p>Gavin seemed delighted at his own suggestion, but Ryan turned to him in alarm. They barely knew this Geoff, did Gavin seriously think that asking him to tag along was a good idea?</p><p>Then again, Ryan and Gavin still barely knew each other, and they were already including each other in their plans.</p><p>Ryan was shocked out of his thoughts when a sound came from the wooden hut. The three of them turned to the door just as another man stepped out, a sword in his hand and the brightest red cape on his back.</p><p>“Who are you people?”</p><p>Ryan was prepared to go full intimidation mode on this new guy, but he had a big sword and Ryan only had a little knife, so he knew he wouldn’t get far with that tactic.</p><p>So instead, he tried to reason with the man.</p><p>“We’re just passing through.”</p><p>“Yeah right.” The man in the doorway stepped out as he walked closer to them. His eyes never left Ryan and he was watching him with a furrowed brow, before his eyes widened.</p><p>“You’re Ryan Haywood.”</p><p>“Wait, <em>the</em> Haywood?” Geoff’s gaze flicked between Ryan and the new man, apparently not having recognised Ryan before.</p><p>Usually, Ryan used his reputation to his advantage, to scare people off or get what he wanted. However, he no longer liked the idea of these people knowing who he was. It just made for a bigger inconvenience.</p><p>Luckily, it seemed Gavin knew just what he was thinking.</p><p>“That’s nothing to worry about! Ryan’s nice!” Gavin grinned at him and Ryan sent him a small, thankful smile back.</p><p>“Yeah? Well, nice is different than good.”</p><p>Those words were like a slap in Ryan’s face, but he knew that he deserved them. He was prepared to admit defeat and leave, but to his surprise Gavin didn’t relent.</p><p>“Please, can we just stay here for the night? It’s getting late and we won’t find anywhere else before night.” He pointed up at the blackening sky. “And, we have food.”</p><p>Those last words seemed to finally have an effect on the man, as he lowered his sword slightly.</p><p>“What kind of food?” He asked sceptically.</p><p>“Fruit. Apples, berries…”</p><p>It was true. The two of them had picked more than enough to have barely eaten any of their supply throughout the day. They had even found more apple trees and berry bushes along the way and had stocked back up.</p><p>The other man seemed to consider this for a long moment, before he finally spoke.</p><p>“Fine. Come on in.” He turned and headed back into the hut, the three of them following soon after.</p><p>“We never got your name,” Ryan said as he stepped through the door.</p><p>“It’s Michael,” the guy finally offered, and they all gave him theirs back.</p><p>As Ryan entered the hut, he took in the state it was in.</p><p>It seemed to be falling apart, and had almost as many holes in it as the barn did. There were even a couple of branches growing through the walls. The inside of it was dusty and there wasn’t any furniture in it that he could see.</p><p>“You live here?” Ryan was confused. The way Michael stepped out of the house before made Ryan believe he had been staying here. However, from its appearance, it seemed that this place hadn’t been touched in years.</p><p>“Oh, no.” Michael sat down in the middle of the floor and put his sword down next to him. “I found this place only a couple of hours before you all showed up.”</p><p>Gavin moved past Ryan and sat down across from Michael. He pulled the bag off his back and began to pull out the fruit stored inside.</p><p>“Where’d you all come from, then?” Michael asked as he picked up an apple and took a bite of it.</p><p>Ryan looked up hesitantly from where he had been reaching for some fruit. It’s not like it was much of a secret as to where he came from anyway, but he was curious as to what Geoff and Gavin’s stories were.</p><p>However, neither of them replied, and instead they stared at the fruit.</p><p>“Fine,” Michael said around a bite of apple after several moments of silence. “Keep your secrets, fine by me.”</p><p>The four of them ate in silence, and soon their abundance of fruit was diminished into a couple of apples and a few berries they were saving for the morning.</p><p>It was now pitch black outside, and with no lanterns, the shack they were in had absolutely no light in it. With nothing else to do other than sit around in the dark, they all decided to go to sleep.</p><p>They each took a corner of the one room that made up the entirety of the hut. Although, Gavin had migrated over to Ryan’s side and Ryan couldn’t find it in him to send him away. He had quite enjoyed spending the previous night next to the man, even if then he had no choice, and was content to let him be close to him as they both fell asleep for the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Of course I had to sneak a cheeky lil Into the Woods reference in there</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Brick House</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The four of them were standing outside the old shack, awkwardly watching each other and not saying a word.</p>
<p>“Well, I guess I’ll see you guys around,” Michael finally said. He gave them a small wave as he turned to the trees.</p>
<p>“Wait,” Ryan stepped towards him just as Michael reached the tree line. Michael turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow as he waited for Ryan to continue. “Do you want to maybe join us?”</p>
<p>“Sure,” Michael shrugged.</p>
<p>Ryan wasn’t sure if he was more surprised at how Michael was so quick to agree or at himself for suggesting such a thing. Then again, what was one more person to add to this little group they were forming?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The four of them travelled through the forest for a few days. They had no destination in mind, so they kept going until they found something worth stopping for.</p>
<p>They didn’t find any other abandoned houses to stay in, so they spent their nights sleeping under the stars. It was cold, but between them they managed to get a fire going.</p>
<p>They found more fruit trees along the way as well as a river that they got fresh water from. However, Ryan knew they couldn’t survive off apples alone forever, so they would need to find something else soon.</p>
<p>It was about three days after they left the wooden hut. They had just decided to stop for a bit and were all sat in a clearing.</p>
<p>“Does anybody else hear that?” Gavin suddenly asked, cutting off the conversation they were having.</p>
<p>Ryan hadn’t heard anything over the sound of the others speaking, so he strained his ears to hear what Gavin had supposedly heard.</p>
<p>He couldn’t hear anything that he hadn’t heard before, just the rustling of bushes in the distance.</p>
<p>“Probably just an animal,” Ryan replied.</p>
<p>Gavin frowned at that, obviously expecting a different answer.</p>
<p>Then, there was suddenly a loud commotion coming from a short distance away, accompanied by a man’s yell.</p>
<p>The four of them sent each other a look, before they were up and hurrying towards where the sound came from.</p>
<p>Ryan ran through some tall, thick bushes before he broke out into a cluster of trees, and at the base of them, was a man.</p>
<p>He was clutching at his abdomen and looking at them in a mixture of shock and fear, and he kept casting glances to the right, where a trail of broken twigs and trampled grass led into the trees.</p>
<p>“Are you alright?” Gavin quickly moved past Ryan and crouched down next to the man. “What happened?”</p>
<p>“There was a wolf. It ran off when it heard you guys coming,” the man replied, but he was still looking at them in confusion. “Where did you guys come from?”</p>
<p>“We were nearby when we heard a commotion,” Gavin smiled. “I’m Gavin, and that’s Ryan, Geoff and Michael.”</p>
<p>Gavin pointed at each of them and they all gave him a small wave.</p>
<p>“Jeremy,” he replied.</p>
<p>Gavin gently pried Jeremy’s hand away from his side, and revealed three cuts beneath his torn shirt, like claw marks, that were steadily bleeding.</p>
<p>“We need to help him.” Gavin looked up at them all. “Anyone a doctor, by chance?”</p>
<p>He gave them a disappointed frown when they all shook their heads. None of them even had the right supplies to treat something like this.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Geoff caught their attention. “Look at that.”</p>
<p>He was pointing up at the sky, and Ryan followed his gaze to find a cloud of smoke was billowing up into the air.</p>
<p>“Smoke?” Ryan trailed the direction it was coming from, and it seemed to be coming from just a short distance away. It didn’t seem to be enough for it to be coming from a forest fire, so it was likely coming from a fire pit or something similar.</p>
<p>“There’s a person over there, maybe they can help up.” Gavin began to pull Jeremy upright and Michael stepped in to help. Jeremy threw an arm over both their shoulders, and then they all headed towards the smoke.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The smoke led them to a small brick cottage on the edge of the forest. It was next to a field full of flowers, and the smoke was coming out of a chimney, which meant someone must be inside.</p>
<p>Ryan made his way to the door and knocked on it several times, making sure they were loud enough to be heard and indicate their urgency.</p>
<p>A long moment passed and Ryan was about to knock again, but then the door swung open and a man with a friendly smile stood in front of them.</p>
<p>“Oh, can I help you?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, he’s hurt.” Ryan pointed over to Jeremy, who was slumped in Michael and Gavin’s hold. “We were wondering if maybe you could help us.”</p>
<p>“Certainly!” The man stepped aside. “Come in!”</p>
<p>He gestured them all to follow him in and they did so with only a tad of hesitation.</p>
<p>“Put him over on the couch,” he said as he went off to rummage around in a cupboard. “The name’s Jack, by the way.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were all sat in the small living room, except for Jeremy who Jack had instructed to go sleep on his bed. Jack had just the right supplies to tend to his wounds.</p>
<p>The cottage was cosy and warm and homey. Ryan wondered how such a thing could exist so far from civilisation.</p>
<p>“How long have you lived here?” Ryan asked.</p>
<p>“Almost my whole life,” Jack replied with a smile. He almost seemed to have this childish glee with everything he did.</p>
<p>“It’s nice,” Gavin said as he sank into the soft couch.</p>
<p>“Thank you. You know, if you want to, you guys can stay here for a few days whilst Jeremy gets better.”</p>
<p>“Actually, we only just met h-”</p>
<p>“Sure!” Gavin cut Ryan off before he could deny the offer. “We have nowhere else to be.”</p>
<p>Ryan supposed that was true. He really did have no reason to deny spending a few days in a warm cottage, protected from the rain and cold from outside.</p>
<p>“Excellent!” Jack clapped his hands together as he rose from his seat, “Now, what do you all say to a nice meal? You all look like you haven’t eaten in days.”</p>
<p>They all nodded eagerly and Jack turned away to the small kitchen.</p>
<p>Ryan sat back in the cosy chair he was on, and took in the faces of his new companions. It had been so long since he had spent so much time in the presence of other people who he felt so relaxed around.</p>
<p>He had given up wondering how he had gotten into such a situation, and instead enjoyed how nice it felt. He definitely wasn’t ready for it to end anytime soon.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you all liked it!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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